misshapen means having a bad, ugly or awkward shape; deformed; malformed; ill-shapen. It carries an Arena rating of 1616, earned across 10 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, misshapen ranks #2,966 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #3,558 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #4,062 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #4,648 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words.
misshapen is pronounced /mɪsˈʃeɪ.pən/.
Why “misshapen” is a great word
Having an ugly or deformed shape, distorted from its natural or proper form. From Middle English *mysshapen*, *misse shapen*, equivalent to the prefix *mis-* ("wrongly, badly") + *shapen*, the past participle of *shapen* ("to shape, form"). Unlike "amorphous," which describes a formless void, or "shapely," which celebrates harmonious proportion, "misshapen" is an accusation against a shape that has betrayed its own intent. It is the gnarled root twisted around a stone, the clay pot slumped in the kiln, the apple warped by frost—a testament to life's quiet, persistent pressure to bend things away from their ideal, leaving a melancholy signature upon all things.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English mysshapen, misse shapen, mysshape, mysshap; equivalent to mis- + shapen.
adj
- Having a bad, ugly or awkward shape; deformed; malformed; ill-shapen.
- Morally or intellectually warped.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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